Betsy DeVos is an interesting political personality in the United States of America. Many believe she is President Trump’s right-hand person. Who would argue such a fact when Betsy and her husband are among the wealthiest in the United States. Betsy was appointed the Secretary of Education by Donald J. Trump when he became the President of the United States, but apart from her position in the US, let’s take you down the road and intimate you on her private life and activities which includes her family, brother, husband, children and net worth.
Betsy DeVos Bio
Betsy DeVos was born Elisabeth Dee DeVos on January 8, 1958, in Holland, Michigan to her parents Elsa Zwiep and Edgar D. Prince. Her father was the owner of Prince Corporation, a major supplier of auto parts in the United States, and made his billions before his death in 1997. Betsy is of Dutch descent and she has a younger brother, Erik Prince. Coming from such a wealthy home that has a lot of privileges, Betsy attended Holland Christian High School, Michigan, and graduated from Calvin College, Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Business Administration. While in school, Betsy was actively involved in school politics and subsequently became a member of the US Republican Party.
Family, Husband, Children
Betsy DeVos has a lovely family she is proud of. Coming from a family of wealth and affluence, she equally got married to a husband of the same pedigree. Dick DeVos, her husband is an American businessman, politician, and philanthropist. Born Richard Marvin “Dick” DeVos Jr., he graduated from Northwood University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and wanted to attend the Harvard Business School and the Wharton School’s Executive Study Programs but dropped out without completing his academic sessions. In 1974, Dick DeVos began working with Amway Corporation, his family business, and became vice president in 1984. His term as vice president of the corporation recorded huge success for the company by multiplying sales to a 50% growth and expanding to over 50 countries. In 1993, Dick DeVos and his wife became chairpersons of the Education Freedom Fund (EFF), a fund that helps poor parents by providing money to aid them in sending their kids to the best schools in the nation. They have continued in this campaign ever since.
Betsy DeVos and her husband, Dick have been actively involved in politics, business, and philanthropic activities. In 2005, he contested as a gubernatorial candidate in Michigan under the Republican party platform but lost to his Democratic party opponent. They have investment interests in Neurocore, a firm that provides therapy for patients suffering from autism, anxiety, depression, and attention deficit.
The couple has four children who are already grown adults. Richard ‘Rick’ Marvin DeVos III, Elisabeth ‘Elissa’ DeVos, Andrea DeVos, and Ryan DeVos. Owing to the level of education they received, their children are doing well for themselves in society. Rick is a graduate of Calvin College and founder of ArtPrize, an annual internationally recognized art competition for artists which is held in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Elissa is a graduate of Princeton University and is married to Nate Lowery, a Michigan entrepreneur while Andrea is the co-founder of Woosh Beauty and Ryan is a strategic specialist for the Orlando NBA team – Orlando Magic.
Her Only Brother – Erik Prince
Betsy DeVos is from an extended family of great and savvy businessmen and women. Her only sibling and younger brother; Erik Dean Prince is an American businessman, co-founder of Blackwater Security Service, and a former naval officer (U Navy Seal). He attended the United States Naval academy but left without graduating and later graduated from Hillsdale College with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1992. His father traveled a lot with him to concentrations camps and what he saw fueled his passion for having a private army to help in emergencies. In 1990, he was among the volunteers in search of the mass grave in Nicaragua. Upon graduating from college in 1992, he was made a US Navy Seal. In 1995, his father died and Prince left the navy to take care of his father’s business. In 1997, he founded Blackwaters, a security outfit of which he was CEO until the company was sold in 2010. The company was responsible for deploying private armies to war under the supervision of the US government to combat the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The company became the largest private security agency, awarded several contracts worth billions of dollars.
During the 2016 presidential elections, Erik Prince was spotted having a secret meeting in Seychelles Islands with the United Arab Emirates to establish a channel between the US and Russia. Erik Prince denied the allegation stating he has no connection to Trump but it was claimed that he donated $250,000 to Trump’s campaign organization, claims no one knows if they are true. Erik Prince now leads the Frontier Resource Group, an equity firm as chairman.
Net Worth
Betsy DeVos was a part of the Winquest group and has contributed majorly to education by distributing voucher programs. She was the chairman of the Republican Party in Michigan from 1996-2000 and won the re-election. She also served as a Chairperson for Action Institute and Alliance for School Choice. Betsy believes even low-income earners should be supported to provide their kids with the best private education possible and this privilege should not only be for the rich.
In talking about the net worth of the US Education Secretary, one would not fail to notice that both herself and her husband, Dick DeVos hail from super-wealthy families. Her husband is set to inherit one-fourth of his father’s over $6 billion fortune (as one of four children). We are talking about over $1.5 billion. It is on record that Betsy DeVos owns 10 boats, four aircraft, and two helicopters. She travels for all her official meetings with her private air transport and does not seek reimbursement.
Betsy earned a total of $53,962,468 and $134,894,706 between January 2016 and June 2017 according to the public disclosure form made available by the Office of Government Ethics. And even though she is a Level 1 employee of the government of the US, a position with an annual salary of around $200,000, she opted to be paid $1 as annual income.
